Pa. Turnpike tolls to go up Sunday

By Stacy Wescoe,
January 3, 2013 at 9:00 AM
- Last modified: January 3, 2013 at 9:46 AM

Rates will be going up starting Sunday for motorists who use the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said that toll rates will increase on Jan. 6 by 10 percent for cash customers and 2 percent for E-ZPass customers.

The new rates are expected to generate approximately $25 million in new revenue in 2013.

The Turnpike Commission has set E-ZPass rates lower than cash rates since 2011. It aims to increase E-ZPass enrollment because it's less costly to process an electronic transaction compared to a cash transaction.

Today, about 68 percent of all Pennsylvania Turnpike travelers already have E-ZPass, and the commission wants to grow that number as it develops a completely cashless system, called All-Electronic Tolling, in the coming years.

The commission said the toll increase is needed, in part, to satisfy its obligation to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to help address a transportation-funding shortfall.

Under Act 44 of 2007, the Turnpike continues to make annual contributions of $450 million to PennDOT; of that, $250 million is used for public-transit agencies and $200 million is used for off-Turnpike road and bridge projects.

The commission said the toll increase is also essential to fund its own capital plan, focused largely on total reconstruction and widening projects.

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Stacy Wescoe

Writer and online editor Stacy Wescoe has her finger on the pulse of the business community in the Greater Lehigh Valley and keeps you up-to-date with technology and trends, plus what coworkers and competitors are talking about around the water cooler — and on social media.
She can be reached at stacyw@lvb.com or 610-807-9619, ext. 104. Follow her on Twitter at @morestacy and on Facebook.
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